Still Point Art Gallery • Still Point Arts Quarterly • Shanti Arts Publishing

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Friday, April 03, 2009

Still Point I - Curating the Show

Still Point I presented a unique challenge to curate, but also a great pleasure. Yes....CURATE. When was the last time you heard that word in connection with an online art gallery? Yet another thing that sets Still Point Art Gallery apart.

Being the first show for the Gallery, it was such a pleasure to see the work of all the submitting artists and to see the show come together. The challenge was to decide which pieces to select and which pieces would work well together overall. My plan is not just to mount or upload image files and then make the show live. Rather my plan is to select art pieces that work well together as an entire show, as well as on individual screens or windows. I don't have large walls or rooms to work with, so computer windows do present a bit of a curatorial challenge. Still Point I did not have any subject restrictions, but explored those things that visual artists, through their art, hold still. Artist submissions for the show represented a wide variety of media and styles, which presented the curatorial challenge, but also a creative pleasure.

I personally hope to learn something from every exhibition presented by Still Point Art Gallery. I wrote in my February 16, 2009 blog entry that, in my own artwork, I can feel that I'm holding still whatever is before me with the click of the shutter on my camera. In working with and looking at the pieces in Still Point I, I learned that there are times when I should think about this even more consciously. What scene do I want to hold still? What expression on my friend's face do I want to hold still? How do I create a photograph that holds still the feeling of love? I'm not sure exactly, but I can practice and perhaps one day I'll know.